Greater Ground-Robin

Large, stout-billed woodcreeper of tall rainforest in northeastern Amazonia. Plumage entirely rufous-brown with no barring or streaking; note thick reddish bill, white throat, and prominent white whisker mark (bill of young birds is dark brown). Found in tall rainforest as well as slightly lower-stature forests on sandy soils; generally less common than other large woodcreepers. Climbs along tree trunks and large branches at middle and upper levels, probing bark crevices for insects and small vertebrates; occasionally follows army ant swarms to capture animals fleeing up tree trunks. Heard more often than seen. Song, given mainly at dawn, is a far-carrying, hoarse whistle repeated 3–4 times, very unlike other woodcreepers. Amazonian Barred-Woodcreeper, which also has a reddish bill and suggestion of a pale whisker, may occur with Red-billed at ant swarms and be mistaken for it in dim understory light; note Red-billed’s stouter bill and plain face with obvious whisker streak.

A very little-known, small bird of foothill forest canopy and edge on Tagula Island where the only white-eye. Olive-green upperparts with yellow-green rump, blackish face and tail. White underparts from the throat to the belly and yellow under the base of the tail. Note the broad white eye-ring, broken at the front. Voice, gives a typical white-eye “peer” call. Apparently not seen in recent years.

A recently described species endemic to the declining montane forests of Taliabu. Dark, sparrow-sized warbler with a scruffy-looking, graduated tail. Dark above, with a pale eyebrow and throat; very similar in appearance to Seram, Sulawesi, and Buru Bush Warblers, all formerly grouped under “Chestnut-backed Bush Warbler.” Secretive and skulky, moving about stealthily in dense vegetation on or near the ground. Darker above and dingier below than migrant grasshopper warblers such as Gray’s and Middendorff’s, and with a prominent white throat. Song is a series of extremely high, thin notes: “tzi’eeee, tzi’eeee, tzi’eeee.”